Varun Chakaravarthy ran through the Kiwi batting line-up in India's last group-stage match.
Asked to bat first, the Men in Blue posted a modest 249/9 on the board. Following the top-order collapse, Shreyas Iyer rose to the occasion and played a valuable knock of 79 while Hardik Pandya (45) and Axar Patel (42) made notable contributions with the bat.
Defending the total, the Indian spinners ran through the Kiwi batting line-up, bundling them out for a paltry 205 in 45.3 overs.
Varun Chakaravarthy was the wrecker-in-chief with the ball, returning with a five-wicket haul (5-42 in 10 overs) while Kuldeep Yadav (2-56 in 9.3 overs), Axar Patel (1-32 in 10 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (1-36 in 8 overs) shared four scalps among them.
After the game, Rohit said India always had the confidence of defending a low-score against in-form New Zealand.
“Very important for us to finish on a high. New Zealand is a good side, playing well in the recent past. Axar-Shreyas’ partnership was important after losing wickets in the first powerplay. They got us to good total, with our quality bowlers, we had the confidence to defend that,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Chakaravarthy was added to the playing XI in place of fast bowler Harshit Rana, who was given some rest. However, the mystery spinner produced a match-winning performance for India, and now it will be difficult for the team management to ignore him for the knock-out stage.
The Indian skipper admitted that Chakaravarthy’s match-winning exploits has only added to their “good headache”.
“Varun has got something different, wanted to try and see what he had to offer. We got to think a little about what to do for the next game, good headache. If he gets it right, very difficult to read him,” Rohit said.
With this win, Team India topped the Group A points table. They will face Australia in the first semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday (March 4). On the other hand, New Zealand will lock horns against South Africa in the second semi-final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday (March 5).
Commenting on the semi-final clash with Australia, Rohit said: “Momentum critical in such a short game. Try and win game, try and do everything right. Mistakes happen but correcting that is important. It is going to be a good game. Australia have a rich history of playing well in ICC tournaments. About us to do things right. We have to be focussed on what we need to do on that day. Looking forward to that, hopefully we can stitch one towards us.”